On the meaning of 'anyways' in "What Exactly Is a Quartz Crystal, Anyways?"

Question

I couldn't really find the meaning 'anyways' takes in this specific context:

What Exactly Is a Quartz Crystal, Anyways?

Each of the four definitions of anyways listed in this dictionary, for example, seem to have a meaning that's different, at least I couldn't easily match, to the one used in the above sentence.

Source: The heading of this electronics article.

Answer 1

It’s this OED definition (under anyway):

Used for emphasis at the end of a question; ‘may I ask?’, ‘would you say?’ Also sometimes used to indicate firmer intent to direct the conversation, or to register scepticism, exasperation, etc.: ‘anyhow’, ‘more to the point’.

In much the same way, exactly also adds emphasis.

---

Another example of “anyway(s)” being used in a title like this is Whose Line Is It Anyway? which is the title of two TV series: a British one and its American remake.

Answer 2

Anyways is in increasingly common usage, but is still considered to be incorrect. It is a colloquial or slang form of the word anyway - which is the word you have looked up.

Of the definitions in your dictionary link, the first is the meaning of the word in the sentence:

1. (conjunctive) Regardless; anyhow.

The overall sentence carries a further shade of meaning as outlined below.

'Anyway' needs to relate to something, and as the title of the article doesn't have any context there is nothing for 'anyway' to relate to. Because of that, as a stand alone sentence the title does not appear to make sense.

However this kind of construct is commonly used. If you presuppose that the reader has an awareness of the subject (quartz crystals), but may not have detailed knowledge, then the use of 'anyway' is used to relate to that awareness which is the implied context of the title.

Against the background of this interest the question

What exactly is a quartz crystal, anyways?

is phrased in a conversational style to probe whether the presupposed awareness of quartz crystals is based on knowledge.

In the article itself, in the first paragraph it states "... would you ever have thought that quartz crystals would become pervasive electronic components ..." carrying on the conversational style and going on to provide information about quartz crystals and so anwers the question in the title. Interestingly, although the title does include the word exactly, it is only providing information into the relevance of the general awareness regarding use in electronic circuits. In the first paragraph it provides information about the mineral structure and freely admits "(not sure what that means...)"

The same construct might be used in converation when someone is making a fuss about any trend or fad - the intention is to ask

Do you really know what this thing is that everybody's talking about (or are you just talking about it)?

Without using 'anyway' this shade of meaning is not present. For example, just asking:

"What exactly is a quartz crystal?"

or "What is a quartz crystal, exactly?"

Does not carry the implication of a presupposed general level of background interest or awareness in the same way.

Answer 3

The other answers are right from a grammatical point of view, but I'd like to add some context, which I think is important to better understand that title.

Many years ago, the late Bob Pease — a legendary¹ electronic designer from National Semiconductors — wrote a series of articles (which can be found at this link) about various aspects of electronic design: each article in the series had a title of the type

What's all this X stuff, anyhow?

So, in this case, the form of the quoted title with the final anyways, at variance from anyhow, is probably just a subtle homage to Bob Pease.

¹_{I'm not overstating.}

Answer 4

Laurel's answer is correct, but sometimes it is helpful to understand how the meaning in context arose out of other, possibly more common, meanings of the word. There is a longer expression, "in any case", which basically means "we may be unsure about some things, but what I am about to tell you is true no matter if we are right or wrong about those things." That is, "what I am going to say is true in any of the possible cases."

That's a natural thing to say in a transition. We may not be sure about a difficult work issue, but, in any case, lunch would be a good idea. We don't have to figure out our work issue to agree that we should go to lunch.

When it gets used in that way a lot, it can start to serve merely to say "let's stop focusing on what we were talking about, and address this other issue."

"Anyway", or the less formal "anyways", I think started out meaning basically the same thing as what "in any case" means now. But over time, it has come mainly to play the role of redirecting your attention rather than expressing the more specific concept that you are about to say something that doesn't depend on which way an earlier discussion might be resolved.

And so "What exactly is X, anyways" basically invites you to imagine that there has been a discussion involving X somehow, but that the speaker wants you to ignore that broader discussion and just answer the question of what X is.

Answer 5

In this case, 'anyways' has a few different ways in which it could be being used.

1. Used in the same way as “nonetheless” or “regardless”; you were talking about something else or perhaps something that you didn't agree on about quartz crystal.
2. It can also be used to signal the continuation of an interrupted story; you were telling someone about quartz crystal when someone interrupted you, or you went off topic and now you are coming back to the main point.
3. Offence: the tone of how this statement is said should tell you whether the person is being polite or perhaps trying to make a rude remark about what someone else has said about quartz crystal.
4. Someone has been telling you a long story about quartz crystal whilst you sat there patiently, and you shyly ask 'what exactly is quartz crystal, anyway?'.